Yekaterina Feodorovna (Mikasa of Akishino)

Yekaterina Feodorovna (Yekaterina Feodorovna Romanova; 29 April 1901 – 2 August 1945) was Empress of Winia as the spouse of Alice II of Winia—the first ruler of the Romanova Dynasty—their marriage which occurred on 10 October 1920 marked the beginning of a new age. Originally Princess Mikasa of Akishino and the Japanese Empire by birth, she was given the name and patronymic Yekaterina Feodorovna when she converted and was received into the Winian Orthodox Church. Her brothers (Hirohito, Yasuhito, Nobuhito, and Takahito) disapproved of her marriage, as they had wanted her to marry a Japanese aristocrat. Her mother (Empress Teimei) though happy with her marrying whoever she loved, was worried about the stability of the Empire that she was marrying into. Her parents-in-law (Dowager Empress Yekaterina Feodorovna/Alix of Hesse, and the late Emperor Rosaline I of Winia) euthastically welcomed her into the Winian Imperial Family. Her death in 2 August 1945, sent a wave of mourning throughout the Empire. She was honored with the posthumous name of Great Empress as a testament to her courage, wise nature, and political savvy-personality. She carried prostate cancer (genetically inherited from her mother, the Empress of Japan), and died in bed at Feodorovna Castle in Yekaterinburg.

Yekaterina is the sister of Hirohito, Yasuhito, Nobuhito, and Takahito, making her a princess of the Imperial House of Japan; she is the twin sister of Hirohito, and the eldest and only daughter of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei.

Early life
Born in Tokyo's Aoyama Palace (during the reign of her grandfather, Emperor Meiji) on 29 April 1901, Mikasa was the first and only daughter of 21-year-old Crown Prince Yoshihito (the future Emperor Taishō) and 17-year-old Crown Princess Sadako (the future Empress Teimei). She was the granddaughter of Emperor Meiji and Yanagihara Naruko. Her childhood title was Princess Michi. Ten weeks after she was born, Mikasa was removed from the court and placed in the care of Count Kawamura Sumiyoshi, who raised her as his grandchild. At the age of 3, Mikasa, Hirohito, and their younger brother, Yasuhito, were returned to court when Kawamura died – first to the imperial mansion in Numazu, Shizuoka, then back to the Aoyama Palace. In 1908, both Mikasa and her twin brother, Hirohito, began elementary studies at the Gakushūin (Peers School).